Fidel Castro demanded that the staff at the US Embassy in Havana be reduced from 87 to 11 and that this be carried out before Wednesday. President Eisenhower ended diplomatic relations with Cub the next day.

In the Rose Bowl, the University of Washington Huskies (6) upset the University of Minnesota Gophers (1). The score was 17-7.

Other historic events that have occurred through the years on my birth date are:

Monday, January 24, 2011

An Amanuensis is a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I am continuing to work on transcribing the many newspaper clippings contained in an old scrapbook that I inherited from my Aunt Martha after she passed. Many of these old clippings contain references to my paternal grandfather, Rev. H. C. Jones, during his time as Director of the Negro Home and Welfare Association in Winston-Salem, NC.

However, amongst all the clippings, there is one that's just a little different than the rest and it's on the very first page of the scrap book.

Rev. Harry C. Jones To Be Buried Monday

Funeral services for the Rev. Harry Claudius Jones of 2900 Clemmonsville Road will be held at 4 p.m. Monday at the GolerMetropolitanAMEZionChurch.

The Rev. A. A. Perry and the Rev. R. E. Blakey will be in charge of the rites, with burial in EvergreenCemetery.

The body will lie in state at the church for two hours prior to the service.

The Rev. Mr. Jones died shortly after noon Friday at his residence.

My grandfather died on January 21, 1955. This past Friday marked the 56th year of my grandfather's passing and today is the 56th anniversary of his Going Home Service.

I never met my paternal grandfather. He passed 6 years prior to my arrival in this world. Until this year, I've never thought much about my grandfather's death. Maybe it's because his son, my daddy, lies in a hospital bed and the doctors can't seem to figure out what's wrong, but today I find myself shedding a few tears for the only one of my grandparents that I never got a chance to know.

The burial announcement most likely appeared in either the Twin City Sentinel or the Winston-Salem Journal.

*****

Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging theme which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin – some we never met – others we see a time in their life before we knew them. A fuller explanation can be found here.

Amanuensis Monday is a popular ongoing series created by John Newmark at TransylvanianDutch.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog has done it again. For 2011, she's come up with a series of challenges centered around our own personal genealogy.

This is Week 4 in the series and the topic for this week is Home. Describe the house in which you grew up. Was it big or small? What made it unique? Is it still there today?

The challenge runs from Saturday, January 22, 2011 through Friday, January 28, 2011.

My post for this challenge is a repeat of a post from October 5, 2010 that I wrote for the Afrigeneas' Family History Month Challenge.

When talking about the house I grew up in, I always like to point out that the house was build for moi. Before my entry into the world, my parents were boarders in a house that was a few houses away from my maternal grandparents’ house. I’m sure that my parents were probably wishing for a house of their own one day but I don’t know if they had put a plan in place to attain that goal, when they found out they were expecting a little bundle of joy, which would be me.

Even so, I still don’t think it registered with dad that they needed to move. My mother says she had to tell dad that they needed a bigger place if not their own place.

I guess it eventually sunk in because dad applied for a VA loan and plans were soon put in place to build a new home. A lot one street over from my grandparents house was selected (ours would be the second house build on the street) and thus the building of the house for me commenced. I understand during the building phase, mom would often take walks to check on the property and report any happenings to dad.

The house didn’t quite get finished in time for my arrival, so I spent my first 3 months being a boarder with my parents. We eventually moved in and until I went off to college, I spent all of my growing up years in that house.

The house was a typical brick ranch build in the early 1960s and had a full basement, which was often my favorite place to play. The basement was also the social hub of our house and family whether it was hosting birthday parties for me, family dinners, or having friends over (the folks or mine) who wanted to play a little ping pong or shuffle board. (My dad had a shuffleboard lane painted on the floor.)

The back yard was a good size and offered trees that a sometimes tomboy, me again, could climb as well as providing enough land for summer gardens, which my mother loved to do. There were wild bunnies, hoppy toads, and the sweet smell of honeysuckle in the spring time. Even though we were in the “city,” the critters would visit our property and as a result I still have a fondness for them to this day. Yes my hometown and home were the perfect combination of city and country living all rolled into one.

As time marches on, my parents and I must decide what to do with the old homestead. None of us have lived in it since 2005 and yet, neither I nor they are ready to sell it, just yet. For me, the house represents my anchor, my rock, the place I can always go back to if times every really became tough and yet, for a variety of reasons, I don’t think my parents or myself can really envision ever living there, again, although we all contemplate it from time to time.

Finally, as I’ve reflected back on bygone times one more time, it always eventually comes back to the fact that it wasn’t the house that created the memories that I carry in me but the three people who lived inside that house.

This picture of the old homestead is ca 1962. That's me, mom, dad, my first cousin, and my uncle pictured in front.﻿

The above picture is part of the personal collection of the owner of this blog.﻿

Friday, January 21, 2011

Several months ago, Dionne Ford, Finding Josephine, mentioned how her journey to trace her family history had broadened her reading tastes.

I agree with her. (Friends and coworkers are always picking at me about the books I read.) For me, in addition to broadening the scope of my reading, it’s also broadening the scope of my viewing pleasure.

The documentary Family Name has been out for a while, but I only recently come across it and decided to purchase it.

Similar to Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball, Family Name documents the journey of a young man, Macky Alston, in exploring his family’s slave owning past. The documentary was the winner of the 1997 Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS September 15, 1998. I acquired a copy of the film through Half.com. It can also be purchased via Amazon.

One of the things that drew me to this documentary film was is its ties to North Carolina. Whether book or film, if it documents slave ancestry in North Carolina, I gravitate toward it. I think it is how I make up for the lack of stories on the paternal side of my family.

In the documentary, this seemed to be a spiritual journey as well as a genealogical journey for Macky Alston. Ironically, in the credits at the end of the documentary, it is revealed that Macky really isn’t an Alston at all, since his 3rd great grandfather was illegitimate.

Monday, January 10, 2011

One of my goals for 2011 is to transcribe the newspapers clippings contained in a scrapbook inherited from my Aunt Martha. Many of these old clippings contain references to my paternal grandfather, Rev. H. C. Jones, during his time as Director of the Negro Home and Welfare Association in Winston-Salem, NC.

Competition For Parents Nears Finish

The Parenthood Training Contest of the Negro Home and Welfare Association will close on Saturday, August 20, when the three winning families will be presented awards at 6:15 p.m. over station WAIR.

Judges for the contest are: Mrs. L. E. Fowler of the Retail Merchants Association; Mr. Lillian Noell of the Department of Public Welfare; Professor George L. Johnson of the Winston-Salem Teachers College; Mrs. Charles W. Ward of the Minister’s Wives Alliance and Mrs. G. W. Rowland of the Negro Home and Welfare Association.

Rev. H. C. Jones, director of the Association, states that the Negro Home and Welfare Association feels very keenly that parenthood training stands first in the educational system. Therefore, it is attempting not only to awaken greater interest in this training, but also to create a greater consciousness on the part of the home and community of their obligation to the child and to society; and to give instructions and suggestions towards the solution of the parent-child problem.

Training Continues

While the parenthood training contest closes within the next week the training offered to parents will continue indefinitely. It is the hope of the organization that all homes will be reached through this program.

During the next year, the organization will give instructions through the Parent-Teachers Associations by radio and through a Family Relations Institute which is now being planned. The Institute will offer courses in courtship, marriage compatibility and parenthood training.

The current contest is being sponsored through the Negro Home and Welfare Association by the Retail Merchants.

This undated article is probably from around 1945 and most likely appeared in either the Twin City Sentinel or the Winston Salem Journal.

*****

Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging theme which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin – some we never met – others we see a time in their life before we knew them. A fuller explanation can be found here.

Amanuensis Monday is a popular ongoing series created by John Newmark at TransylvanianDutch.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

One of the joys that I experienced during 2010 on my paternal line was finally being able to confirm a 2nd great grandmother on my Everett line. In the process, I also unearthed, by all indications to date, my 3rd great grandparents.

5. Vicy Ann Everett, born abt. 1845 in North Carolina. Internment and date of death are unknown. The additional information leads me to belive that my 2nd great grandmother's first name is Vicy and not Vica has previously posted. Grandma Vicy Ann married John Hargett between 1870 and 1880 and had more children.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Part of my inherited artifacts includes an old scrapbook with various newspaper clippings, many of which include my paternal grandfather or references to him. As the pages of this old scrapbook have longed since yellowed and are beginning to crumble, I thought that participation in Amanuensis Monday would help accomplish two goals: 1) provide material for Conversations with my Ancestors and 2) help me to finally transcribe these items.

As provided by Dictonary.com, an Amanuensis is a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

Based on the other articles in the scrapbook, this undated article is probably from around 1945 and most likely appeared in either the Twin City Sentinel or the Winston Salem Journal.

School Given Funds to Buy New Uniforms

A donation of $288 to be used for glee club uniforms was made to Columbia Height Elementary School last week by the school’s Grade Mothers.

Mrs. Mattie DeBerry made the presentation at the final meeting of the PTA organization.

Mr. and Mrs. Agnell Muldrow received an award from the Negro Home and Welfare Association for having done the most toward curing juvenile delinquency. The award was presented by the Rev. H. C. Jones, director of the association.

G. A. Hall, who retired as president after three years, was presented a gift from the PTA by Mrs. Christine Sawyer, president of the Grade Mothers.

The Re. Jerry Drayton was principal speaker.

The caption under the picture reads A PRIZE for success in helping to build children’s character was presented to Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Muldrow by the Rev. H. C. Jones, left, director of the Negro Home and Welfare Association, during a meeting of the Columbia HeightsElementary School.

Rev. H. C. Jones was my paternal grandfather.

*****

Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging theme which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin – some we never met – others we see a time in their life before we knew them. A fuller explanation can be found here.

Amanuensis Monday is a popular ongoing series created by John Newmark at TransylvanianDutch.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

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"In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know our heritage, to know who we are and where we have come from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness."--Alex Haley

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